Michael Jordan gifted sporting icon his incredible six figure Ferrari
Published on Sep 28, 2023 at 6:42 PM (UTC+4)
by Andie Reeves
Last updated on Oct 02, 2023 at 11:07 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
Gift-giving is hard when you’re a celebrity like Michael Jordan.
What do you give your friends who are just as rich as you are?
Jordan is famous for his impressive car collection, and it’s now emerged that he actually gave one of his most beloved cars away.
READ MORE: Michael Jordan just added a $3.5m hypercar to his collection.
In the ’90s Jordan was at the top of his game.
He and his teammate Scottie Pippen were kings of the Chicago Bulls team, winning six NBA championships together.
At the time, Jordan had an enviable fleet that included a Chevrolet Corvette and a Porsche.
His red Ferrari 550 Maranello was one of his most prized possessions and one that Pippen often commented on.
For Christmas in 1997, Pippen gave his teammate a lavish and meaningful gift.
He splashed out on a custom earring that was a diamond-encrusted replica of the NBA championship trophy.
Jordan had planned to give him a box of cigars, but after receiving his blinged-out gift he knew they weren’t going to cut it any more.
For a normal person, the next gift up from a box of cigars isn’t a Ferrari.
But Michael Jordan isn’t a normal person.
He remembered how Pippen had admired his luxury car and decided his fleet could spare it.
“He wanted it so bad,” Jordan said.
At the time the car was worth $170,000 which is $331,000 in today’s money.
But the most surprising part of this story isn’t that Jordan gave up a whole Ferrari just for a Christmas present.
Rather it’s that these two weren’t even that close.
According to Pippen, they were strictly teammates.
“We never really had that off-the-court relationship,” he said.
If that’s the kind of gift colleagues get each other in the NBA then we need to change career paths.
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Andie is a content writer from South Africa with a background in broadcasting and journalism. Starting her career in the glossy pages of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire, Andie has a broad portfolio, covering everything from sustainability solutions to celebrity car collections. When not at her laptop Andie can be found sewing, recording her podcast, taking board games too seriously or road-tripping in her bright green Kia.